Lucky Lucky Lucky

Lucky is how I feel today...well today and almost everyday lately. We are just having such a great experience. My instincts were correct in our coming here...the impact it is having on all of us is incredible. We did, however, have a small tragedy this weekend.....but a life lesson learned in the most delicate of ways. A dove flew into Nell's window and injured itself. Nell and Mapenduzi (which means revolution) saved the bird and it became Nell's pet. This was Saturday. Sunday Mapenduzi leaves our property and goes to church and sees friends...Nell waited by his door ( he has a little house on our property) literally most of the day. When he got home she got Amy, pronounced Aamy....to feed and bathe? She and Pearl proceeded to bathe the bird 7 times....then run around the yard with it to dry it...applied "baby wax" (still not sure what that was) and then were trying to train it to perch on the swing they made. Well...Amy passed away in Nell's grasp....as she put it "two big tears squished out of her eyes" I think it was bath related...but I'm not a vet. So we have since had a burial and many discussions about the circle of life etc. I have had to tell them both all my childhood pet exploits...like the time I accidently boiled my fish, or the time our "male" cat had kittens or sadly....dead Fred. Luckily I was allowed lots of pets to learn these lessons....I need to remember this when we go back...pets for the girls are important regardless of the outcome. Our next animal endeavor here are chickens...Nell and Mapenduzi are building a coop....then we go to the market and choose our chickens. Can you imagine that ride home? Where should I put them? In the trunk? One of the main reasons Nell wants chickens is because she still has an egg she got at a friend's farm a few weeks back..she thinks it will hatch under these new chickens...hmmm.
Today is glorious weather-wise...a bit dusty but really to know this weather is continuing basically the whole time we are here is GREAT!!!
Neerad a friend of mine has just written me that he would like to visit. He just finished a movie that was filmed mostly in Sierra Leon...it highlights the diamond mines and their juxtaposition to the rapculture and bling. He has had it at several film festivals this summer. He wants to come in March and when the kids are on Spring Break I may travel with him to see where he filmed. I have never been to the West coast of Africa...could be very interesting.
Pearl is a major digger...almost everyday she comes home to dig in the same spot...it is nice for them to be able to be free,dirty and happy. I love to secretly watch her out the window because she is always singing...she makes up the funniest verses...I'll write one down next time togive you an idea!
So Skype has been working well lately...glad to talk to you!!!!!! Our Skype name is Sarahnellpearl if you want to talk to us...best part is...FREE!!!!
Oh...I feellike I should put a counter on my page to chronicle how many times Robby has been up and down the mountain JUST since we have been here....we have been here almost 2 months and he has been up and down 8 times.....sheesh....those of you that have done it know what I am sayin here...SHEESH.
Love to you all!!!!!!
Sarah

Lay or lie down on the carpet...

I'm lettin my Linda Yu hue show?! HAHAHA.....that's for josh!

Polony

I bought some Polony yesterday. In case you are wondering, this is how the package is marked for bologna...HAHAHAHA POLONY....that killed me. I again laughed out loud. So it occured to me that I hadn't ever given a lot of you my number...it is FAR cheaper to call from there and almost impossible for me to call on my phone as it runs out of minutes in about two seconds. So here goes....0786794218 not sure what the country code that needs to be added on is? Can someone comment on that please? THANKS!!!
Just got an email from Elena Marre who bought tickets to visit on Nov 15th...Nell is going to be beside herself as I think Jacob is the person she really misses the most. Nell and Jacob have gone to school together since they were 2 and have always been in the same class....we live very near each other in Chicago and Jacob's parents are going through a divorce...they have alot of shared experience...I know Nell has told me dreams she has had about him here. She sent him a postcard yesterday...I can't wait to tell her. It is so great that so many people are visiting us...for so many reasons...more people will understand our love for this place when we get back and also be exposed to the amazing work GAA is doing....etc. etc. I am happy to again invite anyone. We have lots of space in our home and would love to have any and all of you!!! I think it can be intimidating to come here for some...but having a home base and someone to show you around is helpful..so take advantage!
I love listening to the radio here when I am driving...it is either R Kelly/ the Dixie Chicks/ or 50 cent...so funny which artists stick or resonate and why. I am having my usual Wilco love affair. I listened to Wilco a lot while training for my first climb here....so certain songs really bring me to this place. Shawna and I both used Hummingbird while actually climbing...such a beautiful song..."a man who slept on a mountain" goes through my head on most clear days looking at Kili. And then there's "when you wake up feeling old" sheesh...use that everytime I run....that music resonates for me and always has....Mike Doughty is the same....LOVE IT. My car has a CD player but I have no CD's...anyone want to make me one or two to send with Shawna??? I would love it!!!! JOsh!??? Please...
My mom is comning for the entire month of Feb....we are very lucky to have her here...she will stay with my kids when I have to climb that GD mountain again....HA! She has been here before with me...she met me at the base of Kili after my first climb...one of those moments that can still bring tears to my eyes....very powerful. I can't wait for her to see the kids in action here...I think my family was secretly a little worried when we left...but will be so happy to see the results for Nell and Pearl thus far even...
Nell has a big Art Walk tomorrow at school...she couldn't sleep last night because she was so excited...I am so impressed with her teacher. Pearl is reading full force now...a pleasure to observe.
All's still well!!!! Love to you all from us!!!!
Sarah

Censorship

Just a quick word on this. My mom "suggested" I not use the "F" word as my 13 year old niece(who is awesome amazing and smart) is reading this blog. So first to address Meredith (my niece) I know you know the "f" word, but are insightful enough to look at my story as what it was intended ....to express that ALL of us no matter our ages have insecurtities when approaching new unfamiliar things. And Meredith will you please remind Gamma about her friend Mrs. Tobin who has a far worse mouth than me and always swore around us as kids...and tell her it made Mrs Tobin more relatable and I have many lessons learned from her?!! Thanks for telling her Meredith...also you may want to remind her that I was a teacher of kids your age for years and "get it"....it's nice to know at 13 that grownups aren't perfect and that we all need to make mistakes to grow....and tell her that if I had deleted the "f" word from my story I probably would have never gotten kicked out of the class in the first place. Thanks Meredith!!! Love you and miss you a lot hope your tennis is going great....
Ok...now that we have that bit of family business out of the way...yesterday I went to Arusha with my business associate Setty, we went for a few reasons which surprisingly we accomplished. Tumaini Center is a vocational center that is funded and supported by GAA...it is really their crowning glory thus far. They serve students 16 to 28 at this time. There are classes in several languages, life skills workshops, Bike mechanics, First Aid and Porter Training. Setty is going to be teaching the Porter training which is new this term. we encouraged Rift Cross to train some of the students/orphans that GAA supports as a way to come full cicle with our mission. This first group will join both Sam and my groups on the mountain this year. I personally think it will be very moving and powerful....as I have mentioned before there is a culture of bribery and abuse on the mountain for porters. they have been taken advantage of for years....Setty has been very outspoken (to the point of losing a few jobs) about porter treatment. I feel very lucky to be part of this change....Rift Cross/GAA is going to try to always use our students. It is exciting...so yesterday we finally locked down a "timetable" for these classes. We are also providing First Aid training for these porters....actually this class will be taught by Phillip who is part of Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance project. I think I also mentioned this group...they are based out of Boulder Colorado! I met with one of their founders yesterday and she is going to interview Rift Cross so we can partner officially with them and be labeled a "responsible travel partner". I have gotten a few emails asking about donating clothing and such to porters...perhaps we can be really clear with this for this year and i could send out sizes of our students. So if you are serious...let me know and i will send you emails.
Another thing we did yesterday was buy bikes...I bought bikes for Nell and Pearl and I...we could easily be riding to school...and it would be fun. Two of the bikes I bought have stickers from the DuPage Bike Shop...kinda ironic to be buying bikes in Africa from the county I grew up in. The bikes that are at Tumaini are shipped through GAA and working Bikes in Chicago...so if you are ever wondering where to donate bikes, that is the place...they are located on western ave. So now i am trying to teach Pearl....I am sure she will have it by the end of the week. There are no smooth surfaces so she'll learn to be a rugged rider right off the bat...she's excited! The person who runs the bike program at tumaini is a woman named Upendo...she is GREAT...she works with all males and runs them so well....it is great to see an African woman so empowered in this position. she also wants to go through the porter training program...I SO hope she comes with us...this would really make Rift cross a unique company and be a real selling point as few companies have ever employed women on the mountain!!
So all is well here....plugging along. Nell and Pearl and I are going to Kenya for a week soon. We are going to a place called Turtle Bay....probably the closest I'll ever come to the Disney experience....but they will LOVE it...they have cooking classes for kids...hmmm...perhaps i'll join!
Love to you all....thanks for the continued readership and comments...
peace,
Sarah

Moshi Office

So the exciting news this week is the opening of our Moshi office. GAA combined with Rift Cross Safari's will now have an official offine in Moshi Town. Setty and I looked around a bit and found a suitable place where we hope to be set up by the beginning of Oct. Rift Cross is thrilled...it will also give them a safe location to store all the mountain equipment they have been collecting. We will be in a 4 story building and sad to say (or good for my training) we will start on the top floor. This is the way here...there are lots of lfy by night businesses so to move down floors you must be there for a while. I tried the American way fo offering more money as i thought a street level space would give us some walk in traffic...but no, the system is not monetarily based?! We are excited...this will allow us to get a broadband connection, have a printer fax etc. Getting work accomplished will be so much easier!
My other endeavor lately is learning Swahili...I have some weird phobias coming back to the surface while facing this...dates back to my senoir year of high school and my spanish teacher. Mr. Ragone...my time with him ended with me calling him a "fucking pockface". I was promptly kicked out of his class, had a rather uncomfortable meeting with the Dean of students and my mother....and never took another language again. Surprisingly...I can speak Spanish. Jay my younger brother still holds a grudge that I ruined his spanish career as Mr. ragone took out all his frustration with me on him...sorry Jay. Anyway...I am having to remind myself that my academic falterings always ( they happened other times as well) had little to do with my intelligence and more to do with outside influences such as: boys, skiing, sleep etc. So I am mustering up some self-confidence and tackling this language. It helps tremendously that I hear it all day everyday...I've gotten to the point where I know the essence of what people are saying pretty much all of the time. I know quite a bit of vocabulary...but i am afraid to go over the next cliff which is actually putting a sentence together with correct tenses. There is no X or Q in the Swahili alphabet and everything is pronounced as it looks....inflection always occurs on the second to last syllable. In a sense this is a simple language to learn...we'll see. So far just bumbling along, always with the encouragement of the people here, they love to have you try....not like the French. Pearl is still the bravest and always quicly applies her swahili class new vocabulary when we are out and about.
So I have had 4 different people from very different walks of life tell me about this book....Three Cups of Tea. Now I have started it and learned that the author's parents started the school that nell and Pearl are attending. His father also started KCMC which is a major teachihg hospital just down the road from us. It's really excitng to see how this American's time in Tanzania is effecting what he does in his life as a grownup....hope the school and the country have the same effect on all of us! Read it! Then we could have a long distance book club! I have been reading like crazy....several books a week. This only happens in my life when i am super content....so glad to be back to this place. I just read a book called Race Against Time by Stephen Lewis....he is on the UN's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa and a commissioner for the World Health Organization. The book is a series of lectures...a very interesting and compelling read...he starts most of his lectures with the comment "I have spent the last four years watching people die" his words a wrenching but powerful.
Hope all is well with all of you!!! We are well and thriving!!!
Peace!
Sarah

Staus Quo

Who would have thunk I would feel like this. All seems relatively normal now...that giddy excitement that I felt for the first few weeks has settled down to a calm and contentness that I haven't know in years. The girls are really loving school...there is a lot more evaluation here...but I don't think they feel pressured by it, I think instead they enjoy the feedback. I wonder if their Montessori base has given them a certain confidence in their ablitities and now they get a chance to see where they stand a bit. We'll see I guess how this translates when they are back at NNMS next year.
Work has really picked up for me. The more I discover about this business and this country the more there is to learn. Each cool location and trip idea leads to about 10 more. I think I will never tire ofthe possibilites of this country. Also the people who come here to work and live are a special sort. They recognize the beaubut also want to be a part of the culture. I have been meeting with a group called the Asilia group who are Dutch partners of a series of camps and resorts. I really want to work withthem as they have a similar philoshophy as GAA. They do a lot of side projects that aid the country and have two camps in Massai territory that aid that ecomomy and tradition. Everyone here says they are doing something of this sort but few do it well. So everyday lots to be learned and discovered.
Alex is comingon the 4th of Oct. and will be here until the 29th....so he will travel to Kenya with us on the girls Mid term break...I am sure he will demand an area with surfing so this is another thing to explore.
Time is going too quickly..
Love and Peace
Sarah

Fantasy Land

So I don't think I mentioned the results of the birthday party that the girls went to last week. I need to try to explain this house/garden/fantasy land. This was the home of the woman I mentioned before (the South African brave one?). Upon driving through their gate you are met by two gazebo/pagoda type structures...each are covered by a thatched roof. They have very comfortable relaxing furniture underneath...then you see the life size doll house...next to the treehouse....next to the trampoline....next to the big hole in the ground that will one day be a swimming pool. Lest you think the house is some big Mc Mansion...it isn't...it is super simple. Just the basics, as this family and most of the people here spend all of their time out of doors. It was an amazing party...kids dressed in fantasy costumes...balloons, sweets. I felt like I was on a movie set. Again the great thing was....no expensive magician or entertainment of any kind...just simple three legged races, egg toss etc. All this scene took place in the most beautiful lighting...I say on the porch with the other adults and just watched these ectastic children....ahhh.
Well...as luck would have it the kids are invited back this afternoon for a playdate...I am excited because it means I get to ask Nericia more questions...she is just really interesting. She teaches Decoupage(sp) classes during the day...she reiminds me of Hope a bit. She has an artistic flare to all aspects of her life...able to pull things together easily. I look forward to the two of them meeting when Jodi and Hope get here!!!
Did I mention that Elle and Shawna are coming for a month?!!! Elle is going to attend ISM (International School Moshi) with Nell and Pearl. Shawna and I will be preparing for our climb/trip...I need my butt kicked in the physical fitness arena...no extra weight when one lives in Africa...but my strength is way down from not running etc.
So gotta go buy the bottle of wine for the playdate.....grin!
Have a wonderful weekend!!!
Peace,
Sarah